A Royal Wedding(102)

Andre forced back the smile that threatened. “I’ll let her know you were asking after her.”

“You do that,” she said, looking at him suspiciously. “I think she should be reprimanded.”

He shook his head. “Sorry, can’t do that. She’s not working for me any longer. In fact, she recently left on a round-the- world cruise.” His mouth tilted at the corners as he prepared to give her the whole story. “She married an itinerant poker player she met in the casino. They plan to spend their lives aboard cruise ships, traveling from one port to the next.”

She stared at him for a moment, then made a face. “That sounds crazy.”

And he agreed. “Oh, it is.”

She looked at him speculatively, blinking a time or two.

“But lovely at the same time. Traveling from place to place.” She sighed. “I’ve never really travelled at all.”

Ah, here was his opening, and he took it with vigor. Dropping down beside her on the couch, he leaned in.

“Once you marry Alphonso you can do as you please. Travel. Shop. Eat at fancy restaurants. No more convent. You’ll have your own palace. The world will be your oyster.”

She stared into his eyes for a long moment, then shook her head slowly. “No, it won’t,” she said perceptively. “He’ll be in charge. I’ll have to do what he says. It will be worse than the convent.” She made a face and threw up her hands. “You see, that’s just my point. The whole world gets to go off and do crazy things except for me. I don’t get to do even normal things.”

He sighed. It was becoming clear that this was going to take longer than he’d thought. He glanced at his watch.

“How about this?” he suggested. “We’ll go down and get something to eat, talk for a while longer, and then I’ll drive you back to the convent. Sound good?”

She stared at him. He just refused to get it, didn’t he? She wasn’t going back to the convent.

His telephone rang and he excused himself, disappearing into what she assumed must be the bedroom to answer it. She sat stiffly where she was and stared out the huge glass window. It was so disappointing. She’d been so sure—once she saw him again, once they’d had a chance to talk and she’d let him know how she felt—that he would see things her way and even understand why she couldn’t do this.

She should have followed her first instincts and just made a run for the border. Now she wouldn’t have as good a head start. But she would go. She had no choice, really. It was that or consign herself to a life of misery.

Why couldn’t he see her point of view? She’d once thought they had a special rapport, a unique connection that held them together as friends forever. Now she wasn’t so sure. He didn’t want to hear her side. There was really no hope. So why was she hanging around, waiting to be driven back to the convent? She had to get out of here while she had the chance.

She glanced at the bedroom door. From the sound of it, he was still talking on the phone. Rising from the couch, she walked quickly toward the elevator she’d come up in. All she needed was a little time. She might be able to make the border yet.

Andre came out of the bedroom frowning, not pleased with the news he’d just received, but all that flew out the window as he looked around the room and realized Julienne was gone.

Well, that had been stupid. He should have known she would be a flight risk. He only hoped it wasn’t too late to stop her.

The elevator had a kill switch and he used it now, then headed for the stairs. If she was still on her way down he would catch her at the bottom. If she’d already left the building he would be lucky to find her again. Ever.

Julienne had just reached the ground floor when she heard the gears grinding to a halt.

“Oh, no,” she whispered in despair. She knew what that meant. He’d caught her again. She tried punching the door button but nothing moved, and she sighed, waiting for the inevitable.

It seemed forever until the doors slid noiselessly open and Andre stood waiting, his arms crossed over his chest and a dark look on his face.

“Gotcha,” was all he said.

She was chilled by the frosty look in his blue eyes, like caverns of ice, but she glared at him anyway. She expected him to join her on the elevator, but instead he reached in and took her hand and pulled her out onto the tiled pavement.

“You want to show me where your boyfriend is?” he said coldly. “I’m sure he’s out here somewhere close.”